Kitchen utensil bracket



2,738,943 I I KITCHEN UTENSIL BRACKET J. Richard Lawrence, Worcester,Mass., assignor to The WashbnrnCompanyyWorcester, Mass., a corporation vof Massachusetts Original application May 24, 1947, Serial No. 750,325.and this application April 4, 1952, SerialNo.

4 Claims. (am-293),

signed to be pivotally attached to a wall bracket so that r it may befolded upwardly to an out of the way position when not in use.

Another object is to provide for releasably locking such a bracket infolded position a spring-pressed elongated latch pivotally mountedintermediate its ends on the utensil plate and having a tooth on one endarranged to be engaged selectively in either one of two notches providedin the arcuate periphery of the supporting plate on which the utensilplate is pivotally mounted, whereby to permit locking the utensil platepositively and .yet quickly releasably in either its lowered operativeposition or its raised inoperative position, the latch being easilydisengageable by finger pressure against. a projecting thumb'portionprovided on the end opposite the tooth.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing,'in Which-5' ji 1' Fig. 1 is a side view of a kitchen utensil bracket made inaccordance with my invention and "shown in the lowered operativeposition, and h Fig. 2 is a view of the bracket from the opposite sideand showing the utensil inits raised or folded inoperative position.

, The same reference numerals are applied to corresponding-parts inthese two views. a

Referring to. the drawing, the reference numeral 3 designates generallymy improved kitchen utensil bracket consisting of a generallyrectangular. sheet metal utensil 7 2,738,943 Patented Mar. 20,1956

the notch 14, the lug 17 being shown engaged in lower notch 12 in Fig. 1and in upper notch 13in Fig. 2. The other end of the latch 15 hasa'wider andlonger lug I8 bent at right angles thereto which serves as athumb-piece adapted to be depressed in releasing the latch against theresistance of an elongated leaf spring 19, that is fastened I at oneend2tl to the back of the thumb-piece 18 and has slidablej engagement atits free. end in a notch 21 provided in the lower edge portion oftheplate 4. In that way the utensilplate 4 can be'unlocked quickly andmoved from one position to the other and back again. 7 The lug 17 ridesonthe a rcuate periphery 11 of the. supporting plate 8 in the movementof the plate 4 from one position to the other and auto natically snapsinto place in the notch 12 or 13, as the case may be, at the :end of thepivotal movement, p'ositively' locking the utensil in a desiredposition. I

A radially downwardly projecting stop shoulder 12a provided on the plate8 adjacent and fiushwith the inner edge of lower notch 12 is firstengaged by the lug" or tooth 17 when the plate 4 is swung down to theoperative position shown in Fig. 1, to limit movement of the plate 4,and then guide thelug 17 into notch 12in plate 8 to lock the plate 4releasably in the operative'position.

The can opener carried on the bracket 3 forms the subject matter of theparent application and need not, therefore, be described in detail inthis application, beyond stating that it comprises a cutter wheel 22,having a stem portion 23 integral therewith that is rotatably mounted.in a bearing 24 provided on [an axis inclined at an acute anglewith'respect to the vertical plane of the plate 4 in an elongated castplate 25 This plate 25 1 is floatingly mounted on the utensil plate 4and slidably plate 4 which, in the present instance, carries a canopener, one end 5 of the plate 4 being cut to semi-circular form inconcentric relation to a hole 6 that is on the longitudinal center-lineof the plate and which receives the cylindrical shank of a pivot pin 7pivotally connecting the plate with a sheet metal supporting plate 8.The latter has a keystone-shaped attaching plate 9 welded thereto in aplane at right angles to the supporting plate adapted to have a wedgingfit in a flanged retainer plate 10 that is fastened to the wall orkitchen cabinet at any convenient location, the can opener beingdesigned to be swung from the horizontal operative position shown inFig. 1 upwardly to the vertical retracted or inoperative position shownin Fig. 2. The supporting plate 8 has a semi-circular outer edge 11 inconcentric relation to the pivot pin 7, and two notches 12 and 13 areprovided in this edge portion spaced circumferentially 90 apart. A notch14 is provided in the edge portion 5 of the plate 4 arranged to registerwith either of the notches 12 and 13. An elongated latch 15 is pivotedintermediate its ends on a rivet 16 on the lower edge portion of theplate 4 and has a lug or tooth 17 bent at right angles thereto andarranged to engage in the notch 14 and in whichever of the notches 12and 13 happens to be in register with Y guided at its opposite ends invertical slots 26 and 27.

The bearing portion 24'of the plate 25 projects through and ismovable ina vertical slot 28. A nut 22' is threaded on. the reduced end. of thestem 23 protruding from the bearing 24, whereby to hold the cutterwheelin place and yet permit easy removal and replacement. Screws29 and30, the shanks of which extend through the slots 26,and 27,respectively, serve to hold the movable plate 25in assembled relation toplate 4. Coiled. compression springs 31 and 32 disposed in the slots 26and 27 normally urge the plate.25 upwardly to the dotted position shownin Fig. 1,.in which the cutter wheel"22 is in retracted positionrelative to the feed'roller 33 to permit placing the flanged top of acan in position therebe'tween for opening. There. are two horizontalprojections 38 and 39 provided on the plate 25 on opposite sides of-.the cutter wheel 22 arranged to rest on top of the flange of the canin front of and behind the cutter wheel in the can opening operation toguide the can slidably in its rotary movement during this operation andthus assure maintaining the correct relationship of the cutter wheel 22and feed roller 33 relative to the can throughout the operation. A lug40 projecting downwardly from the plate 25 under the projection 39 bearsagainst the outer side of the flanged top of the can to keep it inspaced relation to the spring 32, without, however, interfering with theproper engagement of the feed rollerwith the a as indicated at 46, andhas its cam-shaped end portion 7 47 arranged to slide on the upper edge48 of the plate 25 to impart downward movement thereto againstresistance of springs 31 and 32. One edge 49 of the camshaped end 47 isapproximately in right angle relation to another edge 50, and the lever45 is movable from a substantially horizontal position in approximateparallelism with the plate 25, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. l, to avertical dead-center position substantially at right angles to the plate25, as shown in full lines in the same figure, whereby to move the plate25'downwardly and cause the cutter'wheel 22 to pierce the top wall 51 ofthe can alongside the flange thereon. When the cutter wheel 22 piercesthe top of the can, a feed roller provided on the back of the cutterwheel is pressed at the same time against the top of the flange on thecan so as to cause the cutter wheel 22 to be turned asthe can isthereafter turned in the can opening operation, whereby to make foreasier cutting and avoid concentrating wear and tear on one portionofthe cutter wheel. A crank 53 suitably mounted in the bearing 54 providedon the utensil plate 4 is drivingly connected with the feed roller 33'toturn the same.

It is believed the foregoing description conveys a good understanding ofthe objects and advantages of my invention. The appended claims havebeen drawn to cover all legitimate modifications and adaptations;

I claim:

1. In a kitchen utensil bracketsuitable for supporting a can opener orthe like, comprising an elongated utensil plate disposed in asubstantially vertical plane, and a supporting plate adapted to besecured to a vertical support, said supporting plate being disposedparallel to said utensil plate and pivotally connected thereto forpivotal movement on a horizontal axis from a lowered position at rightangles to the support to a raised position parallel to said support, theimprovement which consists in the provision on said utensil plate of arectangular notch of appreciable Width provided in its lower edge on thepivoted end, and the provision on said supporting plate of an arcuateedge struck on a radius with the aforesaid pivot as a center and havinga lower notch and an upper notch both of the same size and shape as thenotch in the utensil plate and provided in said edge portionapproximately 90 apart with either of which the notch in the utensilplate is arranged to register in the lowered and raised positions ofsaid utensil plate, and the further provision on said utensil plate ofan elongated spring pressed latch pivoted intermediate its ends on thelower edge portion of said utensil plate and having a laterallyprojecting rectangular tooth on one end which is of ap preciable widthand substantially parallel to a tangent to the aforesaid arcuate edgeand is always entered in the notch in said utensil plate as a guide andis adapted to enter either'notch in the supporting plate whenregistering therewith, said tooth being adapted to lie tangent to andslide along the arcuate edge of said supporting plate in the pivotalmovement of said utensil plate from the one aforesaid position to theother, said latch having a manually engageable thumb portion on theother end for release of the latch.

2. A kitchen utensil bracket as set forth in claim 1 wherein thesupporting plate also has a stop shoulder provided thereon extendingradially downwardly from the inner edge of the lower one of the notchesfor engagement by the tooth on the latch to limit pivotal movement ofthe utensil plate relative to the supporting plate and guide said toothinto the lower notch in said supporting plate.

3. A bracket structure comprising an angularly'shiftable vertical plateof elongated form having a semi-circular contour on one end, a fixedvertical supporting plate having means on an inner end for fastening thesame toa vertical wall and having a semi-circular outer end ofapproximately the same radius as the aforesaid semi-circular portion ofthe shiftable plate, said plates being pivotally connected in abuttingrelation, and with the semi-circular portions concentrically disposed,the semi-circular edge of the fixedsupporting plate having a pluralityof circumferentially spaced rectangular notches of appreciable widthprovided therein, the semi-circular edge of the shiftable plate alsohaving a rectangular notch of the same width as each of the aforesaidnotches provided therein adapted to register with either of the notchesin the fixed supporting plate, and a spring pressed latch carried onsaid utensil plate having a laterally projecting rectangular tooth whichis of appreciable width and substantially parallel to a tangent to theaforesaid semicircular edge of the fixed supporting plate and is alwaysengaging in the notch in said shiftable plate as a guide and engageableselectively in either of the notches in said fixed supporting plate andadapted to lie tangent to and slide along the semi-circular edge of thesupporting plate in moving from one notch to the next.

4. A bracket structure as set forth in claim 3 wherein the fixedsupporting plate has a stop shoulder provided thereon extending radiallyoutwardly from one side of an end one ofthe notches in the fixedsupporting plate arranged to be engaged by the tooth on the latch firstto limit the pivotal movementof the shiftable plate relative to thefixed supporting plate and then guide the tooth into the said end notchin said fixed supporting plate.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS550,779 Buchholz Dec. 3, 1895 835,992 Truax Nov. 13, 1906 1,040,462Thruman Oct. 8, 1912 1,549,094 Lamb Aug. 11, 1 925 1,666,568 JacksonApr. 17, 1928 2,074,094 Rush Mar. 16, 1937

